Germany

The war in Ukraine is having a global impact on energy prices, not only driving the cost of oil higher, but also sending coal prices to record levels as demand for the fuel grows during a period of diminished supply. The Newcastle (Australia) futures price of thermal coal for power generation hit $435/ton on March […]

A leaked draft of the European Commission’s proposal to label some natural gas and nuclear power plants as “transitional” or “green” investments has prompted pushback from some European Union (EU) members. Criticism is also mounting in South Korea, where liquefied natural gas (LNG) was included in its new green taxonomy guidelines—but nuclear was left out. […]

The end of the year will bring the end of power production for three of Germany’s final six operating nuclear power plants. The 1,410-MW Brokdorf unit in Schleswig-Holstein, the 1,360-MW Grohnde unit in Lower Saxony, and the 1,288-MW Gundremmingen C unit in Bavaria will all be permanently taken off the gird on Dec. 31. That […]

Vattenfall Inaugurates Scandinavia’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm. Vattenfall on Sept. 6 said it inaugurated the 604-MW Kriegers Flak facility, a new offshore wind farm that is located in the Baltic Sea, 15 to

Bangladesh Scraps 8 GW of Coal-Fired Projects. Bangladesh’s government on June 26 approved the Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Ministry’s proposal to scrap 10 coal-fired power plants, given their lack

Numerous energy facilities were afflicted by the major flooding event that inundated parts of Europe last week, and at least one major power generator has said the damage will likely mount into a “mid-double-digit million euro sum.” The flooding, which was caused by a cold, low-pressure area dubbed “Bernd,” crawled slowly across the continent over two […]

Northbrook, Illinois, July 20, 2021 – UL, the global safety science leader, and one of the world’s top testing, inspection and certification providers for renewable energy projects, has been selected by Ørsted to deliver project certifications for the wind turbine and foundation at 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 and 242MW Gode Wind 3 wind farms. Project certification, […]

Shell Energy has started up a 10-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility—one of the largest of its kind in the world—to produce green hydrogen at its Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and it says plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100 MW.  The startup of the electrolyzer […]

Enapter, a German manufacturer of Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) electrolyzers, is gearing up to deploy an automated production line to scale up electrolyzer manufacturing and ramp up green hydrogen production. The company on June 14 said that after “months of preparation,” it is readying to kick off construction of its “Enapter Campus” in Saerbeck, Germany, […]

Germany has moved its climate neutrality target up from 2050 to 2045 and adopted new interim binding targets that will require greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of 65% by 2030 and 88% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. After 2050, notably, the country—which is Europe’s biggest economy—envisions it will achieve negative GHG emissions.  Germany’s federal […]

European Commission Probing Germany Lignite Power Compensation. The European Commission on March 2 opened an “in-depth investigation” to assess whether Germany’s plans to compensate its lignite-fired

At the digital general meeting of the VDMA Fuel Cell Working Group, Fabian Kapp, Managing Director of Graebener® Maschinentechnik, was elected to the board, which consists of five members. Fabian Kapp: “I am very pleased about the election and the trust. The working group has decided to reorient strategically and to focus more strongly on […]

Air Liquide SA, the French industrial-gas supplier, and Germany’s Siemens Energy AG announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop electrolysis and hydrogen technology. The companies on Feb. 8 said they will collaborate on industrial-scale hydrogen projects. They said the joint venture is designed to support the development and mass manufacturing of […]

Siemens Energy announced it will cut 7,800 jobs from its gas and power division by 2025 as the company attempts to be more competitive in a global energy market that is moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. The company on Feb. 2 in its latest earnings release said it plans to jettison […]

Norwegian Group Buying Vietnam Wind Farm. Norway’s SN Power AS in November agreed to purchase 100% of the shares in the 39.4-MW Dam Nai Wind Power project in Vietnam from Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd., a group owned

Advancements in battery technology are critical to continuing growth in the energy storage market, and energy industry analysts say those advancements also are needed to move e-mobility forward and combat

Zug, Switzerland (Oct. 13, 2020) — Germany’s federal energy agency, Deutsche Energie-Agentur (DENA), has selected Energy Web to design and construct a digital registry for distributed energy resources (DERs) across the country in partnership with more than 20 industry players. The project will enable energy assets in Germany, such as thermostats, solar PV systems, batteries, […]

A German plan to provide coal-fired power plant operators with money to offset financial losses, part of the country’s plan to incentivize the closure of coal plants as part of Germany’s plan to exit the fuel, has led energy giant Vattenfall to say it could close its 1.6-GW Moorburg coal plant in Hamburg by the […]

HEIDENHEIM, GERMANY (August 17, 2020) — Voith and Snowy Hydro agreed to collaborate for the Murray 1 hydroelectric power station and create a smart hydropower plant by installing acoustic sensing equipment to monitor and protect hydropower assets. The project includes Voith’s OnCare.Acoustic system, the IIoT platform OnCumulus data storage and Digital Health Assessments. Installation of […]

Ansaldo Energia has been awarded EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and LTSA (Long Term Service Agreement) contracts for the design, supply, installation and servicing of an open-cycle power plant with installed power of 300 MW in Marbach, Baden-Württemberg (Germany). The “Marbach 4” plant will be equipped with an AE94.3A gas turbine, the related generator and […]

Germany’s plan to end coal-fired power generation in the country is now official, as both houses of the German parliament approved the plan to shut down the last coal units by 2038. Lawmakers signed off on the deal July 3. Environmental groups have supported the measure, though some say it does not go far enough […]

Two German energy heavyweights have completed an asset swap that will have a major impact on the global market for renewable energy. RWE and E.ON on July 1 closed a deal that had been months in the making, with RWE taking on the assets of Innogy, an E.ON subsidiary (and former RWE company), to make […]

Germany Adopts National Strategies for Energy, Climate, Hydrogen. Twenty days before Germany commandeers the European Union Council presidency, Germany on June 12 adopted two national strategies that could

What is expected to be the last new coal plant to come online in Germany entered commercial operation on May 30, more than a decade after it was first planned. The 1,100-MW Datteln 4 power plant, owned by Uniper and located in Datteln in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, opened despite the German government’s stated plan […]

Siemens on May 15 began moving what the company calls its “largest, most powerful, and most efficient heavy-duty gas turbine” from Germany to the UK, where the company will test the equipment for use in a combined cycle power plant. The SGT5-9000 HL turbine, built by Siemens Gas and Power in its Berlin factory, will […]

May 14, 2020 — The technology group Wärtsilä, in consortium with energy provider Uniper, has been contracted to deliver a 105 MW combined heat and power (CHP) gas engine plant to the city of Bremen, Germany. The order was placed by Bremen’s public utility swb Erzeugung GmbH und Co. KG in December 2019. For contractual […]

Offshore wind generation could be a game-changer for U.S. generation—tremendous size, scalability, high capacity factors, zero-carbon, zero-cost fuel, and a proven track record in the UK and Europe. The

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser told a German newspaper the company will not reduce its workforce despite the economic downturn due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Kaeser, in an interview published April 11, said the company would likely continue having some employees work fewer hours at some of its facilities in Germany, and could extend that […]

The coronavirus pandemic is currently turning the entire world upside down and each and every market is experiencing its impact. The German electricity market is no exception. Other issues caused by the spread of the coronavirus may also affect German renewables projects, such as delays in permitting and tender proceedings, and limitations on the free […]

France, which has long relied on reactors to supply the bulk of the country’s electricity, on Feb. 19 announced the imminent closure of the Fessenheim nuclear plant, located on the country’s border with Germany. One of the plant’s two 920-MW pressurized water reactors will shut down within days, with the second taken offline by the […]